IApproximately 86% of the recovered gear was lobster and crabs and cages used for fishing. Ropes over 3,200 meters, “the length equal to 32 football fields”, completed this assessment in a press release from the Nets and Longlines.

The Ghost Gear Fund, launched by the federal government in January 2020, was initially concentrated in Atlantic Canada. The majority of lost, abandoned or abandoned gear was recovered from the Gulf of Phaney and coastal Nova Scotia waters (80%), while 14% were removed from the Gulf of St. Lawrence and 6%. Closed Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Ghost Gear Recovery Program also aims to return the lost fishing gear to its owner. More than 100 marked gear were claimed by fishermen and more than 25 were abandoned by their owners, “which allowed the ministry to dispose of them safely.”

Ghost craft is one of the main causes of marine pollution. Fishing rope, in particular, is one of the primary causes of mortality among North Atlantic right whales. Recovery of fishing gear will resume in the Atlantic region in the spring before the fishing season opens.

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